Plastic composition product and method of producing articles of



A. J. -SLOSSER Jan. 17, 1928, PLASTIC coMPosI'rIoN PRODUCT A ,ME

PROD

UCING ARTICLES 0F MAN CT original Fi1ed`Apri1 0. 1926 v Reissued Jan.17, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATE-NT 'oi-Fica ALGER J'. SLOSSER, OF WILLIAMSPOBT,PENNSYLVANIA, .ASSIGNOB T0 POHPEIAN FLOORING COMPANY, F WILLIAMSPOB'ILPENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0I' PENNSYLVANIA.

PLASTIC COMPOSITION rao'DU'cT AND METHOD or montrent@ aaTIcLns orMANUFACTUBE.

Original No. 1,627,296, dated Alllay 3, `1927,'Serial No. 103,380, ledApril $0, `199B. `Application for reissue led Becember 6, 1927. Seriallo. 888,196.

This invention relates to plastic compos tions and more particularly tocomposltlon products for the production of floormg 'and various articlesof manufacture. It aims to provide an improved composition roduct andmethod of working the samel in t e production of floorin and otherarticles of novel character an appearance.

One of the objects is to provide a fibroid l0 composition that mareadlly be worked or vfashioned into the nished product which will becharacterized by resilient qualities', auch as possessed for example bya block of wood, as distinguished from the hard and l5 inflexibleproduct of the ordinary mineral compositions for artificial stone andwhich will nevertheless possess the necessary enduring and wearingqualities without brittleness. Another object is to provide acomposition and method of produclng floorin and other articles ofmanufacture, permitting a wide' range of variation in form, design andcoloring of finished roducts.

A further obJect is to provide a composition which when set andhardened, may be scraped. and polished in aymanner similar to that inwhich wood flooring is ordinarily treated. y

Inexpense in the cost of production and the attainment of attractiveeffects in appearance of the finished products are still urtherdesiderata which have been borne in mindin the perfection of mycomposition and method of` forming or producing different articles ofmanufacture. A y

The invention will be hereinafter more particularly described withreference to the accom anying drawings andl thel'practice 4o thereo inthe production of i composition flooring, although it will be understoodthat the invention-is applicable to ,other uses and the production ofvarious other articles of manufacture.

46 In said drawingsz' a Fig. 1 is a representation of a body or slabcomposed of a composition embodying this invention and presenting asurface of spotted or mottled appearance;

Fig. 2 is a representation of a section through the body or slab shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a representation of a similarly formed body or slab presentinga mottled surface of different appearance produd by fibrous concretionsof larger size and the use .of a coloring matter;

Fig. -4 is a representation of a section through the body or slab shownin Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a representation of another similarl formed body or slab inwhich a mottled sur ace of more compact appearance is produced;

Fig. 6 is a representation of a I section lrrough the body or slabillustrated in 1g. 5; Fig. 7 yis a vrepresentation of still anothersimilarly formed body or slab `presentinga mottled surface of appearancedifferin from the former illustrations andproducedy the useofcontrasting coloring matters; and l Fig. 8 is a representation lof asection lirou'zgh the body of the material shown in My improvedcomposition embodies dif? i ferent ingredients or materials mixedtogether in different proportions to rovide a plastic or tactile mass. Avegetab e fibrous material, such for instance as wood-fibre orwoodflour, is employed as the basic or principal ingredient of thecomposition and is mixed with the other ingredients thereof in suchproportions as Ito provide a formative mixture or mass of relativelyhigh fibre'content. With the aforesaid fibrous ingredient or material, amineral fibrous materlal such vas fibered asbestos is combined, togetherwith a binding agent or celnentingmaterial such A for instance ascaustic calcined magnesia of a grade equal to that used in magnesitestucco. The binding liquid which is later added to the dry materials ofthe composition, may be a solution of magnesium chloride..

In the ractice of the invention, a practicable mlxture or mix as it iscalled, whichwill produce desirable and very effec'- tive results, maybe obtained from the following formula in which the several ingredientsare given 1n approxlmate proportions by weight as follows: 45%caustic'calcined magnesia, 30% white pine wood-flour, 25% asbestos lumpsor floats.

The y inge ents or marins, in pn portionshsyubstatially in accordancewith the above exemplary formula, are first placed to ther in a suitablecontainer where ini- `ti lyfthey are thoroughly mixed in a' dry state.To this Vdry mixture, a proper amount er liquid is added, a chemicalaction takes place, causing the components of the previousl dry mixtobind or come together and orm multitudinous `'concretions or lumps ofthe fibrous materials, the binder` solutionv being added slowly and amixing being simultaneously carrled on until a plastic mixture or masscomposed almost entirely of these soft fibrous concretions or lumps isattained. lThe materials which lare thus taken up by or in effectcongealed and'sup-v orted in the binding liquid when the latter 1sadded, are then ntlyl stirred or agitated until a thorough mlxture andequal distribution of the floating lumps is attained lthroughout theplastic mass.

When workin to produce a mottled effect in the surface o the resultinproduct, care should be taken not to make t e mixture too wet as litsconsistency should be such that the resulting mass will be of a thickplastic character. and not in the form of liquid pulp. The lumps orballs of 'fibrous material -which are thus equally distributedthroughout the supporting liquid binder, may and willl vary in size 'and`in consequence will tend to vary the size of the mottling effectproduced in the finished floor or" article under formation when theprepared composition is spread outv or mould.. y, 'l In' practicing theinvention in the pro duction of oorin either over a relatively largearea or in' t e form' of flooring' tiles,

' :the preparedfinixture or plastic mass of fibrous materials is dumpedout and' spread to the desired thickness over the surface to be covered,the latter having been properly prepared for the purpose. The spreadingmay-be aided by the use of a trowel or other After being s read out overthe surface with fairly uni orm thickness, the plastic mass is thentamped or rolled by suitable means so Athat the sustained concretions orlumps of fibrous materials will be closely compacted. to provide asmooth slab or' flooring surface o the properl densityn Shouldincompletely covered spots or depressions appear in the surface of thenewly spread floor.-

ing after the tamplleig or rolling operation,

they may be cove or filled u by the spreading ofgadditional materialereover,

`will vary somewhat accor umped into a :me l

after which the tampi or rolling operation should be re ted unt' theproper level and a smooth un roken surface is obtained.

' The newly s read surface is then carefully gone over wit a steel.trowel or other tool similarly to the manner of laying cement so thatthe surface may be smoothed out still further. After this o ration, thenewly spread surface should allowed to stand vand settle until itattains a set suiliciently hard to rmit a workman to walk upon 1twithout eaving marks in the surface thereof. The length of time requiredfor the spread mass to set and attain the d-proper hardness Ying Ato thesurrounding atmospheric conditions, althou h pirdinarily it wouldrequire only about eigt ours.

After the ioor or surface has set to the proper hardness, like that ofartificial stone, 1f

1t may be treated with a mechanical scraping or sanding machine, or handScrapers of a kind ordinarily used on hardwood flooring ma be thesurfiice. Such a scraping or sandin operation will expose a new surfaceof autifully mottled appearance, the design or character of the mottlinbeing dependent upon and varied accordlng to the size of theconcret-ions or lumps of fibrous material and the coloring matter usedin the composition.

Several of the'many dilerent forms or effects of mottlin which may beattained inthe practice o the inventlon have been represented in thedrawings, the mottled designs or effects being variable accordin to teproportions of the ingredients use the extent or thoroughness withwhich the fibrous materials are stirred and broken up and the coloringmatters employed in the composition.

In the practice of the invention according to the method above setforth, a color or tint maybe given to the finished product by the i useof coloring matter in the mixture of the composition and-either ablending or contrasting combination of colors in the 'mottling ofthe-productmay. be attained by preparing the composition with`intermixedconcretions or lum s of fibrous material of different colorsin tli forth. A

When coloring matter is to be used in the composition,the'dryingredients thereof in.

variable proportions according to -the exempla'ry formula given above,are first placed together in a container and mixed as hereinbeforedescribed. The desired coloring matter, preferably, in the form of a dcoloring pigment, is added and mixed wit the dry ingredients before thebinder liquid 'is' added thereto. Coloring pi ents may-be added inproportions from gli] .per cent-of the weight of the dry mixture e tovtwenty used to scrape and smooth olf' e manner hereinafter setdepending upon the grade and quality ofy the igment and the depth ofcoloring desiredp 1n the finished product. After the coloring pigmenthasbeen thoroughlymixed with the dry in redients, the binder liquid isadded and t e combined materials are then further mixed to 4attain aneven distribution ofv fibrous materials and coloring matter, after whichthe plastic composition may be Workedor mouldedv into the desired form.v

When working to produce a composition and mottled product embodying acombination of contrasting colors, a separate complete mixture or masslfor each of the colors to be included would be prepared in the mannerjust described. The separately prepared mixtures of ldifferent colorsare then..

placed together in a single large container andl gently stirred or mixedtogether to effect an even distribution of the differently coloredfibrous concretions or lumps throu out the body of the final mixture.are should be taken in thus vintermixing the consolidated separatelyprepared mixtures as a too vigorous agitation thereof may cause thediferently colored fibrous concretions or lumps to break up ordisintegrate, allowin their colors to run together andv blen However, ifa blending of the different colors is desired, the consolidatedmixturesv may and shouldlbe a tated vigorously for the pur ose ofbreaing up the fibrous lumps, a lowing their colors to run together andblend. v

After the se arately prepared mixtures have been conso idated andintermixed, producing the fina-1 plastic composition o'r formative mass,thesame may be spread overF al flooring surface or moulded andy workedinto the form desired. In 'either case, the'surface treatment after theIcomi position has set and hardened may be substantially the same asthat hereinbefore described with respect to the production of flooring.The resulting product with its fibrous concretions or lumps ofintermingled contrasting colors will present a beautifully mottledappearance in the surface and throughout the body of the product. If ahighly polished surface for the finished` product is desired', the samemay be varv nished or shellacked-and waxed similarly to hardwoodflooring.

Another novel and unique effect may be produced from a colored mixtureor a comination of two or more differently -colored mixtures by siftinga contrasting coloring dry pigment thereover in such quantities thatafter a careful mixing'without breaking up the individual concretions orlumps 'of fibrous materials, each of the concretions.

or lumps thereof will become thinly coated with said contrasting color.After the composition has been spread out'or mouldedv into merely byvarying the consistency of the mixture. so that the concretions or lumpsof Y fibrous materials will be broken up, as a result of which thefinished product will present a smoothsurfacc of unmottled rather thanmottled appearance.

Since the composition contains a relatively high percentage of fibrousmaterial, it may Y be used in the making of various articles ofmanufacture, either in or upon a mould where mechanical pressure mayadvantageously'be applied, or by initial formation in a solid body whichupon setting and hardening may be turned on a lathe to' produce thefinished article after the manner of the wood-Working art. Its use isnot therefore limited to the production of fiooring-or the formation offlat surfaced articles.

Furthermore, variations in the relative quantities or proportions of thedifferent iny gredients embodying the composition may be made in themixture thereof for the purpose of attaining different effects inthefinished products without departing from the spirit andv scope of thisinvention and I therefore do'not limit myself to the 'specificproportions of the ingredients as given in the formula hereinbefore setforth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent ofthe UnitedStates is:

1. A composition product consistin vegetable fibrousvmaterial, a mineralbrous material, a dry cementing material and a liquid binder solutionmixed together in proportions producing a. plastic mass composed almostentirely of soft concretions'or lumps of the fibrous materials heldtogether by the binding materials substantially as described. v

2. An improved product or article of manufacture, consisting of amixture of a wood,

fibre or wood-flour with `proportions of asof ai bestos fibre andcaustic calcined magnesia, Y to which a liquid binder solution ofmagnesium chloride is added slowly in sufficientquantity to produce aplastic mass com osed of soft concretions or lumps of the fi rousmaterials substantially as d escribed.

3. An improved product or article of manl ufacture, consisting of a,mixture of a vegetable fibrous material with asbestos fibres and causticcalcined magnesia in relative l proportions of a proximately thirty,twentyfive and fortyve lper cent by weight respectively of the mixtureanda liquid binder solution of magnesium chloride addfus ' terials whichma ed thereto in sufcientproportion to produce a lastic mass composedvalmost'entirely of so concretions or umps ofthe fibrous mabe worked ormoulded into the desired orm, substantially asdescribed.

4. The herein described method of pro#k sired form, allowing the same toset and.

harden and then treating the surface thereof, substantially asdescribed.

5. A method of producing a composition .flooring or other article ofmanufacture having a mottled surface appearance, characterized bymixlngk toltier a vegetable fibrous material, fbered as os and causticcalcined manesia in relative proportions of 30, 25 an 45 percent byweight respectively of the mixture, adding to auch` mixture a liquidbinder solution maf-magnesium chloride in suicient quantity to produceaplastic mass composed of soft concretionsor lumps of the fibrousmaterials with said fibrous concretionsA or lumps evenly distributedtherein,

V spreading or moulding the plastic mass into e form desired, allowingthe same to set and Harden and then scraping or sanding thesurfacethereof to expose a new surface in which the fibrous concretionswill result-4 ingly appear in mottlin effect.

6. 'The lherein descri method of pro- Vducing a composition flooring orother artlcle of manufacture which consists in mixing together relativepro rtions of wood-libre or wood-flour, iibere asbestos and caustic-calcined magnesia and adding slowly'therevto a liquid binder solutionof magnesium chloride in suicieut quantity to produce 'a i plastic massrcomposed almost entirely of soft concretions or lumps ofthe fibrous mavterials held together by the bindingmaterials, spreading'or moulding themass into theldesired form, alllowlng the same to. set and harden andlthen scraping orl sanding the surface thereof 'to expose a new surface,

substantially as described. v

testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification. L ALGERJ. SLOSSER.

